Your complete guide for a perfect pasta dish!

Perfect Italian pasta doesn’t stick together, it’s not soggy or lukewarm and you definitely shouldn’t add oil to it! Here are our ten tips for making it just like mamma!

1) Your pan should be as large as possible and ideally nice and tall rather than wide.

2) The pasta should always be cooked in LOTS of water! We suggest at least one litre for every portion (portion size is up to you but in most of our recipes we use 90g as an average portion size).

3) The water should be well salted. Coarse sea salt is best. Of course try not to exaggerate with the salt, we think about one flat tablespoon of salt per litre of water should be fine.

4) Never add oil to the water. This will just make the pasta slippery and greasy so that the lovely sauce you make won’t cling to it!

5) If possible use always the best quality pasta you can find. We recommend ‘bronze die cut’ which has been pressed through a bronze stamp to give it its unique shape. Not only does it taste better and retain all of its goodness when cooked, but its special texture means that it absorbs the sauce with which it is served better too. We also recommend Senatore Cappelli wheat organic pasta, it’s made from a special, nutrient-filled wheat which makes it more easily digestible.

6) Don’t put the pasta into the water until it’s boiling really well. The pasta will lower the temperature of the water and it will take longer to heat up again once you have added it.

7) Once in the pan stir delicately – otherwise it will definitely all stick together.

8) Keep an eye on the cooking time. Set a timer for the amount of time suggested on the packet but TEST it too towards the end, it should be al dente but not hard.

9) When the pasta is ready it should be drained in a large colander and dressed with sauce immediately!! It must be served hot.

10) Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese – Parmigiano Reggiano only! Remember no cheese when you use any kind of fish sauce!

Buon appetito! We hope your pasta is perfect every time! Let us know if you have any insider tips we missed from our list…